DRex33

I love Corben's work! I once had all of those books in the distant past but of those you list this is the only one I have at present...

I agree that presently most undergrounds are not particularly rare in middle grade for most titles, due mostly to the limited number of collectors who are the the end home for these books. I to try to buy directly to support creators.

Yhanks for the tip!

I don't see underground comix, or alternative comix as limited to the publication of Jay Kennedy's 1982 guide. Above are examples of books I collect in the spirit of creator owned and operated comic books. I suppose we all have our own aesthetics that define our idea of the genre. I love underground/alternative comix but also Archie series comics, romance comics and most other non superhero genres. Maybe I am drawn to these because I can collect them on a budget, but I think it is more because I outgrew superheroes long before comic books in general. Maybe I am out of place on this CGC forum because money value is low on my list of reasons for collecting comic books. Not that it isn't there at all, but mainly I love reading (or just looking at the artwork) and collecting cool examples of comics I enjoy. I revel in low grade comics as well as high grade comics, especially with gold and silver books.

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I just discovered this thread: Underground/Newave Comix: Post Your Obscure, Undocumented or Rarely Discussed Wow, very amazing and chock full of wonderful posts. I posted the following just now over there: "I'm glad I discovered this thread, I've skimmed to lightly so far and find it fascinating. I have read and collected undergrounds since the 70s, but am the sort of collector who purges the collection with life's changes, and presently my collection is modest. I have the opportunity to purchase a long box of undergrounds (bagged but not boarded). The collection is all books interesting to me and in fairly nice condition, 6.0 to 8.0 on average, presenting very well but most seem to have crunches or other defects that prevent them from grading higher. I offered an amount I was comfortable with paying, but they are holding out for about 50% more than my offer. I do not really speculate on comics to resell, but only buy what I like, and frequently pay too much for books I really like. What I am wondering is what the market really looks like for undergrounds, which boils down to how many people are there out there who love these books and want to collect them? It seems to me that the market is small and somewhat stagnant for most run of the mill books, and even keys seem to be selling at or less than I remember a decade ago. I'm wondering if I pay the higher price, do I have any chance that they will appreciate in value over the next ten years? Any thoughts on this would be very welcome." I came here seeking insight into the underground collector's market before spending a lot of money for a collection I am considering purchasing. Any advise you may offer will be gratefully considered!.

I'm glad I discovered this thread, I've skimmed to lightly so far and find it fascinating. I have read and collected undergrounds since the 70s, but am the sort of collector who purges the collection with life's changes, and presently my collection is modest. I have the opportunity to purchase a long box of undergrounds (bagged but not boarded). The collection is all books interesting to me and in fairly nice condition, 6.0 to 8.0 on average, presenting very well but most seem to have crunches or other defects that prevent them from grading higher. I offered an amount I was comfortable with paying, but they are holding out for about 50% more than my offer. I do not really speculate on comics to resell, but only buy what I like, and frequently pay too much for books I really like. What I am wondering is what the market really looks like for undergrounds, which boils down to how many people are there out there who love these books and want to collect them? It seems to me that the market is small and somewhat stagnant for most run of the mill books, and even keys seem to be selling at or less than I remember a decade ago. I'm wondering if I pay the higher price, do I have any chance that they will appreciate in value over the next ten years? Any thoughts on this would be very welcome.

I am thinking about purchasing a large underground collection. I enjoy reading and collecting them, but I wonder if they are broadly popular and have potential to gain value over time. I suspect the pool of interested collectors is fairly small, but I would like to know other's thoughts on collecting underground comic books.